Reflections on a Pearl
by Carlthestoryteller
Summary: Pearl came to Earth at quite a young age and without really knowing what would happen. She was an instrument and her role was to serve. Until she got to know the Gem that changed her life, her perception and the fate of a planet. The story of the events in the 6000 years the Crystal Gems spent on Earth through the perspective of a Pearl.
1. Chapter 1

_*Author's notes: This is a summarized version of the events in the 6000 years the Crystal Gems spent on Earth through Pearl's perspective, focusing more on feelings than events. Here there is a mix of popular theories with some of my own, and some things purposely unclear and not obvious. I will post this firstly as a 10 short chapter's story, and once I finish everything, I'll post all of the chapters together as a whole story. I'm not a native speaker, so I may have some mistakes, feel free to show me them. I'll post the chapters as I translate them from my original text. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

I was called from my position by my superior and shifted from all the other Pearls, as I had done a few times before. That would not be my first mission, but I wasn't one of the most experienced among my class either. If it were allowed for sure I would be demonstrating some excitement. But no, I was a servant, a machine designed, engineered and brought into the world to serve and not to feel.

I walked down a long hallway, slightly behind my superior, as she explained me the mission. It was relatively easy; there was no risk of confrontation, and I was only allowed to know that it would be a visit to a distant planet from another galaxy. However, my superior displayed so much nervousness, so much anxiety that I almost dared to question her about the mission. But as soon as we reached the hall where the ship was kept I could understand. I did not know at the time the actual extent of my mission, but I knew of my new Superior. She was higher than any other Gem present, and more lofty. She had the posture of an authority, and I knew that although I was just like all existing Pearls, I had been assigned to a special mission. I would be the servant of great authority.

As expected, my feelings were complete devotion and admiration right from the start.

We entered the ship, accompanied solely by some few other Gems, all High Gems with a role in the mission. I received only the necessary details, and no one spoke to me.

After the initial conversations about the mission, everyone was free from socializing to fulfill their duties or at least begin plans for the arrival. I followed the Authority to her office and there she spent time contemplating information on projected screens, until she turned to me, looking me in the eye, and said,

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Pearl, I hope you do not mind being mine for a while"

I did not know how to answer, just mumbled a few words with no real meaning. No one ever addressed a Pearl that way, as an individual ... ... almost as an equal ...

"As you wish, Master, your wishes will always be orders"

"Of course," she said closing her eyes and turning once again to the informations.


	2. Chapter 2

_*Author's notes: I'm not a native speaker, so I may have some mistakes, feel free to show me them. I'll post the chapters as I translate them from my original text. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

The remaining of the journey went without unexpected occurrences. No other Gem addressed me, and my Master barely did it for much of the trip. The most unexpected happening, at least for me, was when, at the very end of the trip she asked my opinion about organic life, which she knew in advance existed on this planet. I gave a didactical reply.

"I know what organic life is, Pearl, but ... how ... Never mind"

When we arrived on the planet she looked apprehensive, and I censored myself whenever I thought this of her, as my role was not to judge, let alone think I knew what was going on in the mind of an Authority. However when we were able to really touch the ground of the planet, I saw the the apprehension, authority, austerity, everything, abandon her face and be replaced by true delight, mixed with surprise, her eyes sparkled in a way that I had never seen before. Nevertheless, she had to restrain and recover the face of a real authority, and soon she started to give orders and dictate positions.

The place was not like anything I had ever seen, it was filled with organic forms and completely occupied by living things, covering it as far as the eye can see, everything was green and had mobility, but, as expected, nothing possessed intelligence nor was hostile. My delight could not last long as well, and soon everyone left for their respective duties while she went for a recognition of the area with a small group of Gems, with me close behind. It was a group of warriors, and one said to the Authority,

"Great Authority, was it really necessary to bring a Pearl with us?"

"She may be useful." said my Master laconically.

"This planet has no intelligent life, there are no major risks, and besides, which great utility does a Pearl have? They are not fighters, and in battle they only serve to cheap tactics."

Upon the severe look of my Master, the warrior Gem shuddered, then amended to her speech:

"Not that I believe that you, Great Authority, make use of cheap tactics, no ... I just ..." her speech died.

"It is a very useful class of Gems, the Pearls, do not be convinced otherwise only because of what others say" and so she concluded the issue.

The recognition was as expected, we found no risk and returned to base, our ship. The first few days went well, the first machines were implemented, and the colonization would start soon. Until we finally found hostile life forms, although it was no major problem and it quickly succumbed on our hands. For those organic beings it could have been a great battle, but for us it was as easy as stepping on the ground.


	3. Chapter 3

On the day the machines were ready to start our colonization, the Authority was turned in upon herself, only exchanged the necessary words, and left everyone doing their own duties without interference. As my role was to assist her in whatever she needed, I dared to ask,

"Is there something wrong, my Master?"

She looked at me surprised, and I could see for a millisecond great sadness in her eyes. She sighed and said,

"Oh my Pearl, you would not understand ..."

A long silence followed and only ended with the noise of the machines, which began operating. With that, she turned in upon herself again, looking sad, and I felt strange to be there, with her sharing such a moment with me, allowing me to see her weakness. She then asked,

"If I asked you to die, Pearl, right now, would you?"

"Yes, my Master, I am here to serve you."

"Why?"

I could not answer right away, I had never questioned my condition, my servanthood, nor had any Gem ever questioned it either. When I did found an answer, I said,

"Because I was born for this, my Master, this is my purpose that's why I exist; if it can not be useful I will be discarded"

"So it's out of fear, you don't want to die."

"That's not it, Master, I ... what I most want is to serve you, to be your servant is what I am."

"So you're mine."

"Yes." I answered without any hesitation.

"You're mine, the ship is mine, this planet is mine. It all belong to me."

I could not answer, and I could feel something strange inside of me.

"And I belong to you back. You are mine, but I can not do with you anything I wish, because there are expectations of what I should do with everything. I am not free, Pearl."

"I'm sorry, Master, but I do not understand what you mean."

"If I ordered you to no longer obey me" she looked at me deeply "Would you do it?"

I could not answer nor could I hold to her gaze, she then turned to contemplate nothing in particular.

"And this planet is mine, but I can't decide to no longer explore it, I can't let it free, nor does it have its own right to do it by itself"

For my lack of replies she gave up, sighed, and went back to her leadership position, supervising others and the operation of the machines.

I, however, took longer to get back in my position. She had filled my head with thoughts and questions that I had never had, and I would never have if it weren't for her. It was all too much to think about for simple Pearl.


	4. Chapter 4

_*Author's notes: Short chapter, but I feel it's better on its own. That's why I uploading two in the same day. Hope you enjoy._

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The days passed and by each new day the area was poorer, life slowly vanished as the yet unformed new Gems sucked nutrients from the soil, deep into the earth, soon the first batch would be born.

The Authority did not have deep conversations with me again, but occasionally asked my opinion. Until one day, when there were only the two of us in the Control Central, she let go of her leader's mask and asked:

"Is it fair?"

As always, I could not answer, but I realized that she was asking more to herself than to me, she just wanted to put out her own thoughts.

"These life forms, is it fair they lose everything? Just because they are different from us? There are not smart, of course. But don't they feel? And would this take away their right to their own planet? "

My silence somehow encourages her.

"They are beautiful, at least." then reduces her tone "They are beautiful and they will die in my hands, once again"

Then we are interrupted by a Gem talking about performance and how we are ready for installing in a new location. That Kindergarten was already complete.


	5. Chapter 5

_*Author's notes: And here it is; important chapter that makes direct reference to a particular scene in a particular episode. Hope you enjoy._

* * *

We changed places a few times, and by each new place the Authority was increasingly absent from her position. She always said that there was an important mission to do and only returned days later. Not even I was allowed to accompany her, that was until one day when she ordered me to follow her. Only I, her Pearl. I could barely contain my enthusiasm, and broke my composure in front of everyone. Embarrassed, I followed her.

She told me throughout the whole way about the amazing creatures that she had found, how they were all unique, intelligent, insightful ... free. She showed me a large amount of creatures and told me the stories of some, that she come to know. There was mothers caring for small ones, there was young rebels, and there was fights and reconciliations, in all species. Each and every one, each pair of eyes had a great story lived only for itself, and which it does not easily reveals. Everyone was there for a purpose, and for no purpose, at the same time; they were all just doing what they believed was the best, what they believed they were supposed to be doing. Exactly like...

"Exactly like ourselves, Pearl" she concluded my thoughts.

At last, she showed me those she found smarter. Among them there was a species with constitution slightly similar to our own, they were also bipedal. They had a small settlement and almost looked like they had some social structure. Almost.

Time passed by, new kindergartens were ready, and we were halfway through our mission. Everything was happening as expected, the Authority kept her position, although sometimes she vanished, but now mostly in my company, in those vanishing times she would talk with me about how those beings were freer than we were, and how it was our species who really lacked intelligence and perception. In those moments we built an intimacy that I had never experienced with anyone, I did not even know was possible until then. And she treated me with so much value, almost as if I were like her, as if we were equal.

I did not realize at the moment but there was a moment when everything changed, when the seed of the idea bloomed in her mind. That was when she saw one of her favorite areas, one of the most prosperous and full of life, disappear and be replaced by a dark desert. It was the second time we returned to a completed Kindergarten, and she saw the result of our actions where there was sentient life. Many died, especially land animals, those who could not leave fast enough or did not know they should leave. But deep down there was nowhere to run, at the end there would be nothing to live on.

We were in one of our "missions", on top of a big hill, when she interrupted me from one of my daydreams about how it would be to return to the Homeworld being a close friend with an Authority, and destroyed my fantasy in seconds.

"Pearl, I need to tell you something very important and it must be kept secret" She was not looking at me, even so I agreed and looked serious at her. "You will not be my Pearl anymore."

Before she could finish I found myself talking in panic about how I did not want another Master, that I would arrange a way to be useful to her in the Homeworld, but then she interrupted me,

"I will not return, and that's why I can not be your Master, I hope that I had not caused you much trouble with my mindset; you are a good Gem, Pearl, and if allowed you would be a great Gem."

I kept panicking and not understanding a word of all that. Slowly and patiently she explained me her whole plan, how she would rebel against her own people, our people, for the sake of this planet, how she had discovered gradually the injustice that us..., she was committing. That she had never been in fact present on a colonization, to see for herself the damage. How she could not go back to be what she was.

"I ... can not either." I did not know how to give a proper answer, but I knew, now I knew, that I could not go back to be what I was as well. I could no longer follow orders from other Gems, who regarded me as nothing, nothing but a tool, not after learning how it is to being treated as an individual. I also knew that I would never find anyone so passionate, and so easily to be passionate about. "I'll stay by your side, my Master."

"I can not ask you that."

"There is no need to ask" I could barely contain my tears.

She then turns and look right at me.

"Pearl ..."

"Yes?"

"I'm going to stay and fight for this planet. You don't have to do this with me."

"But I want to."

"I know you do. Please, please, understand... if we lose we'll be killed and if we win we can never go home."

"Oh... why would I ever want to go home if you're here?"

She then releases a laugh and smile, giving me her hand.

"My Pearl"

I could only think about how wonderful she was, and how wonderful it was that she allowed me, she chose me, to be by her side, even in such an important moment. And so I became officially part of the rebellion of Rose Quartz.


	6. Chapter 6

_*Author's notes: And here it is, I know it took too long to update, but_ _unfortunately now I'm kind of busy, really busy. I'll try and upload more this week. Hope you enjoy._

"You must learn how to fight, Pearl" That was her first task organizing her rebellion, to teach her first fighter how to fight. I explained that I was not made for fighting and would never possess many of the skills to do so, which was the obvious to any Gem. The Authority, which now no longer wanted me to call her Master, except in front of other Homeworld Gems, dismissed my words and kept motivating me. If any other Gem had said it, I would not have believed it. If it had not been for Rose Quartz I would have never believed I had any potential, any skill if not those that I have been designated, potential for anything but serve. But Rose could make anyone believe anything she said, and so she convinced me to try; from that point I gave my best, everything I had, not only to please her, but to prove to myself that I could be more. She taught me how to summon my weapon, which I did not even believe was possible, and soon, secretly from all others, I became a great fighter.

By that moment, there were several Gems on the planet, every Gem with some function. She gathered more Gems secretly. She gained them slowly, first recognizing those with a more rebellious inclination, something only she seemed to know how to do in a society as hierarchical and rigid as ours. She would then approach those somewhat rebel Gems and slowly earn their trust with her kindness, which would always inspire immense loyalty on them. When she felt they could be trusted, she would tell them about her plan. They were always so engaged with Rose, so enchanted by her, that there was no Gem to even think of betrayal, each Gem that Rose approached agreed at some extent to help her. As time went by, we gathered a big secret army. Garnet, Ruby and Sapphire at the time, was nearly the last.

I believe that Ruby and Sapphire deserve a little more explanation, although at the time their real importance was not all that clear, not as an entity, as Garnet. Ruby was a low-class fighter, and her role was not of a warrior, but more of a gatekeeper, one among many, many others guarding one of the entrances of one of several kindergartens. Sapphire was a possessor of Future Vision, and so she was of a higher class, even higher than mine was; she was also a guardian, but unlike Ruby, she was in the Control Center with higher Gems, and her duty was to anticipate attacks and threats. They were serving on the same Kindergarten, but it took a long time for them to know about the existence of each other. If Sapphire had not had Future Vision, she would be the class of Ruby, and maybe that was the reason the two acquired certain curiosity for each other. They were almost opposite at first glance, but that attracted them to each other rather than drove them away. There was something almost magnetic between those two, they were always fighting, but they were never separated, which was very strange for all the others. They then began to meet secretly, because their constant discussions began to attract too much attention for their own good. Somehow, they developed a strong and unusual feeling, something spontaneous and with no usefulness, something that was not even a concept in our society, something I would only understand later. Rose noticed it, and I think that was precisely what attracted her to those two. That and the advantage someone like Sapphire would bring.


End file.
